If you’re considering adopting a child in Kentucky, it's important that you have a thorough understanding of the adoption process. That's where we come in.

Our adoption specialists will be by your side to answer your questions throughout the adoption process. To get more information about adopting a baby in Kentucky, contact one of our adoption specialists today.

Adoption in Kentucky is a beautiful way to grow your family, and we want to be the catalyst to help you achieve this dream. American Adoptions has over 30 years of experience in completing successful adoptions. Because of our status as a national adoption agency, we work with prospective birth parents all over the country, which means we'll be able to connect you with adoption opportunities.

Here’s how to adopt a child in Kentucky:

1. Is Adoption the Right Path for You?

Adoption is just one of the ways that you can become a parent. It’s not the right option for everyone.

Preparing yourself for the mental, physical, financial and emotional challenges of parenthood is difficult enough. Adoption poses its own set of separate challenges and benefits. Before you begin the newborn adoption process in Kentucky, you’ll need to be 100 percent committed to the process of adopting a child and all that comes with adoption.

Couples who are considering how to adopt a baby must be on the same page with their goals and adoption decision. Dreams of having a biological child must be exchanged for the dream of having a child through adoption.

2. Which Type of Kentucky Adoption Should You Pursue?

There are several types of Kentucky adoptions that you can choose from in your pursuit of the child adoption process. Each has its own set of adoption requirements that you must meet.

The three most common ways to adopt Kentucky kids include:

Domestic agency adoption

Domestic adoption agencies like American Adoptions offer all the services that birth and adoptive families need when you’re learning how to adopt a child in Kentucky, including birth parent counseling, financial protection for adoptive families and more.

A domestic adoption through a full-service national agency like American Adoptions offers shorter adoption wait times and access to all the services you’ll need to complete an infant adoption in the U.S.

Foster care adoption

Although most kids in Kentucky foster care are ultimately reunited with biological family, 25 percent will become eligible for adoption. Many of these children are older, part of a group of siblings, or have additional needs.

You can learn more about the requirements for a foster care adoption in Kentucky here.

International adoption

International adoptions are becoming increasingly complex due to the regulations, restrictions and costs set by the country you adopt from and the international adoption agencies in Kentucky you work with. Children of all ages may be adopted internationally.

You can learn more about international adoptions in Kentucky here.

3. Who Should Help You With an Adoption in Kentucky?

There are several types of adoption professionals who can assist in educating you about how to adopt a baby in Kentucky. Choosing a professional to help you adopt Kentucky kids will be the most important decision you make in the KY adoption process.

There are:

• Adoption facilitators

• Adoption law centers

• Adoption law firms

• Local/regional adoption agencies

• National adoption agencies

Educating yourself about your options for adoption agencies in Kentucky will protect you, prospective birth parents and your child. Remember that:

• Pursuing an adoption without an agency in Kentucky puts you in danger of adoption fraud and financial loss without the protection and professional experience of an adoption expert.

• It’s illegal in Kentucky for you to advertise for a child to adopt or to advertise for expectant mothers.

• Choosing a Kentucky adoption professional on price alone is ill-advised, as agencies offer varying levels of safety and quality in their services, meaning cheaper does not mean better.

4. How Can You Prepare for an Adoption in Kentucky?

Once you’ve chosen an adoption professional to work with, you’ll begin the “paperwork” stage. Hopeful adoptive parents working with American Adoptions will fill out their Adoption Planning Questionnaire (APQ), create their adoptive family profile and complete their Kentucky adoption home study.

All of these steps may feel tedious, but understand that they’re important in verifying that you are prepared to adopt a child and that you’re able to provide a safe and loving environment in which to raise a child, physically, mentally, financially and emotionally.

After you’ve been approved to adopt in Kentucky, your adoption profile will start being shown to expectant mothers who are looking for adoptive parents for their child. The wait time to enter into an adoption opportunity with an expectant mother varies greatly, but 75 percent of families adopting a child through American Adoptions are placed within an average of 12 months.

5. How Do You Complete a Kentucky Adoption?

When the baby is born, the biological mother must wait at least 72 hours before she may offer her consent to the adoption, in accordance with Kentucky adoption consent laws. When a birth parent gives consent to an adoption, they’re terminating their legal parental rights.

For families who adopt a baby outside of Kentucky, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) processes must also be observed before you can leave the birth mother’s state. This is one final check that all children are going to safe homes. If you reside in Kentucky and you adopt a child in Kentucky, you won’t need to complete the additional step of ICPC.

Following your return home with your child after placement, your Kentucky adoption attorney and KY home study professional will be in touch to coordinate post-placement visits and your adoption finalization hearing in your local circuit court, which has jurisdiction over adoption proceedings in Kentucky.

Your adoption finalization hearing is where the judge will officially grant you your parental rights in the form of a final adoption decree, which completes the Kentucky adoption process.

6. How Do You Move Forward After an Adoption in Kentucky?

Adoption is an ongoing journey for birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptees, long after the final decree of adoption has been issued.

Open adoptions allow for contact to remain ongoing between birth and adoptive families. Studies show these relationships to be highly beneficial to everyone involved in the adoption, but most notably, the adoptee. For this reason and more, open adoptions are always encouraged whenever the situation allows.

The amount of desired contact post-placement is determined when you create your adoption plan, and adoptive parents are paired with expectant parents who request the same amount of post-adoption contact. Open adoptions and semi-open adoptions may include exchanging letters, photos, emails, calls and visits in varying levels of frequency, based on what everyone is happy and comfortable with.

American Adoptions is able to facilitate your open adoption’s post-placement communication for up to 18 years.

If you’re ready to learn more about how to adopt in Kentucky with our agency, call 1-800-ADOPTION now to speak to an adoption specialist.

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